I have a 1 year old Dell Studio 15, 500 GB HD, 4 GB RAM, all the bells and whistles. I don't write letters, form letters, or do invoices on it. All I basically use it for is to surf the web and store my photos and mp3s on. It has a CD/DVD burner that I never use. My question is, now that I have an iPad, and am probably going to get an air print friendly printer, why do I need this laptop? Am I missing something? Worst case scenario I get an iPad 3 when it's released with 32 GB storage. It seems that the iPad with a new printer will do everything I need. What do you guys think?

I used my iPad for months without a computer. I did get an AirPrint printer, which was sweet. I finally got a laptop so I could sync music I bought on the iPad onto my iPod nano, and for iOS updates. With iOS 5 coming, wireless updates and syncing are possible, but I still will need a way to load my "old" nano. You may also need a computer for handling any photos.

I've also gotten into wireless bill paying, so I like to use the laptop for organizing those files (handy for doing taxes too - some of the government sites still use Flash).
Sounds like you have a pretty powerful machine, even though you don't use it now, it be a shame to throw it out. Unless you really need the cash now.

The huge sales of the iPad appear to come from two sources: those without computers who find their iPods are too small to meet their needs and those who were forced to "over buy" computers that exceed their needs. (Not the only folks who buy iPads, of course, but the huge sales are due to those two groups.

Until the iPad came along many consumers bought computers for just the reason the OP notes. They don't need the full functionality of a laptop but they need more than a smartphone or iPod Touch. Apple's genius in the design of the iPad was to tap that market.

Many of the rest of us wouldn't give up our computers for iPads; it's simply too limited a device to meet our requirements. But if we're not in the minority, we're close to it.

I haven't picked up my laptop since getting my iPad. I use it for everything now. My daughter uses my "bells and whistles" laptop for watching Glee on HULU. My iPad cost twice what my laptop cost but it was worth it. I can,t put this thing down and use it for work and pleasure. Add Splashtop and it nearly replaces my desktop as my tool of choice. And I was a skeptic!

Very glad to hear iOS 5 won't need a laptop, because I really try not to use mine now. Plus my laptop is so slow and the USB ports aren't very strong so my iPad rarely shows up as a recognized device, etc.

I received a bill in the mail this evening that I thought I paid online.
My 2year old grand kids had my iPad watching cartoons.
Since I wanted to check to make sure of payment I turned on my laptop to get on line.
It took a full 15 minutes to get my answer.
Had I had my iPad it would have been a 3minute exercise.
I am surely spoiled.

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